The world we see today isn’t what it was centuries ago. There used to be a long gap between different parts of the world.
More than just the barrier of distance and differing languages, every part of society; business, arts, education, sciences, philosophy, craft and career were worlds apart, across the globe.
Then came the game-changer that will not only modify all but bring all together into a single community: The Internet. Thanks to this invention, everyone is closer than we could ever imagine.
The internet of Things (IoT)
The era of the internet brought about a vast connection between every part of society and the globe.
First, information and data can be shared at a faster rate, are readily available and easily accessible. The internet started as a means of connecting people together.
If there was a future its inventor never foresaw, it is what would be known as “the internet of things”. Recent innovations have taken the internet a step further: making it a network not just for connecting people, but things as well.
The internet of things is simply a process whereby devices and machines are connected via the internet and interact with one another with little or no human intervention.
Devices are enabled to read and share data with one another, which can be interpreted to carry out tasks and communicate with other devices within a network.
In developed climes, we have seen where refrigerators can notify you of the expiry date of groceries, or detect that you are running out of milk and place an order in that regard.
Another scenario is your alarm waking you up and communicating with your coffee maker to prepare you some coffee. With the internet of things, machines and devices talk to each other. The List is countless to the vast possibilities of the internet of things.
Daily life and the Internet of Things: The pros and cons
What does this new idea have in stock for daily human life? Are there benefits, pros and cons from the internet of things?
Below are five ways by which the internet of things can affect daily life.
Control
The idea of the internet of things, while merging machines and devices into a single interactive network, provides users with absolute control over all devices via a network. Hence, it brings flexibility and convenience to the use of technology both domestically and industrially.
Saves time and money
When devices know what to do, and communicate with one another to do it, a lot of time is spent by humans in carrying out these activities either by operating individual devices or through the use of human effort, is saved.
It also helps to save money. The use of operators or human assistants is drastically reduced, thus saving firms or households from the cost of labor in this regard.
Multitasking
A system can induce multiple tasks simultaneously, thanks to the internet of things. This only means that the era of doing one thing at a time is not only over for humans, but possibly for machines as well. This also will mean some discrepancies leading to inefficiency are taken care of.
Unemployment
Talking of the cons, with little or no human effort required to get devices to work, a time comes in the future when the services of domestic menial workers like house help, or machine operators in industrial settings will no longer be required.
Insecurity
Devices will share lots of data within the network. Thus, while this data helps the connected devices carry out tasks and interact with other devices within and outside the network, it can also put the user at risk, if the system is infiltrated by hackers, or such data gets into the wrong hands.
Harnessing the great possibilities of this technology, there abound enormous benefits that the human society stands to gain.
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